Contrary to what many people think, Facebook likes don’t come with the territory. Yes it’s easy to create a fan page and get a few likes, but is usually stops there for lesser known companies. Getting your first 1000 or even 500 likes is definitely the hardest. It takes time and patience to boost your exposure and reach on Facebook. So let’s take a look at the more important steps you’ll need to take in order to develop and carry out a successful “like” campaign.

Tag Your PageUsing the Facebook tagging system is a great way to promote your page and get more visitors and likes. You can do this by posting a status message on your personal Facebook profile and mentioning your Facebook page. Use your creativity to come up with a clever way to get people to click through to your page and “like” it. Maybe you have a special promotion going on or you have an interesting link that you’ve posted – anything to peak the interest of your Facebook friends.

Suggest to FriendsEvery page has a handy link in the sidebar called “Suggest to Friends” which allows you to do just that. It’s a great way to recommend your page to your friends, who are sure to like it just because they’re you’re friends and want to support. Just don’t abuse this feature because many people are sure to get annoyed if you’re constantly bugging them about it.

Contests, Giveaways, PromotionsYou can never go wrong with a contest or giveaway; not too many people will turn down free prizes. The best way to do this is to require users to like your page before being able to see any information about the promotion. This is easy since you can create a new tab dedicated to the contest or giveaway and then make it viewable to fans only. Of course you’ll want to make sure that you’re giving away something that is valuable and worth the “like.”A great tool for creating and managing Facebook promotions is Wildfire. With all of their integrated tools, features and statistics you’re sure to increase your Facebook page fans.

Connect to TwitterTwitter’s popularity does not seem to be slowing down at all. So why not take advantage of one of the top social sites on the Web? You can do that by linking your page to Twitter and converting followers to fans. Upon setting this up, all of your Facebook page posts will be sent to your Twitter profile along with a link. Hopefully you’ve already built up a decent following on Twitter and continuously working on building your brand there.

Use a Like BoxFacebook social plugins, namely the Like Box, are a very effective way of getting more likes for your page. You can customize it as you like and then add it to your website or blog. Visitors to your site can then “like” your page without even having to go to Facebook. It can also display recent posts from your page and other fans. If you have a site with high traffic, you really should not be without this.

Use Facebook as Your PageMany people are not too familiar with this feature, but you can actually use Facebook as your page instead of as your personal profile. This allows you to comment on and “like” content as your own brand and really helps to extend your reach and peak the interest of others. Just remember that you’re representing your company and all of your actions will show up on your fan page. You’ll want to be careful of what you say and “like,” yet use your creativity to get new fans.

Facebook AdsRunning an ad on Facebook is smart, easy and effective. You can target users by location, age and interest. What you put in your ad is important; you’ll need a catchy image and text to grab people’s attention. A “like” button can be displayed below your ad, which makes it quick for users to become a fan. Often times you can even find advertising coupons for Facebook floating around the Web. This is as a great way to test the waters before getting your feet wet.One of the best things about Facebook ads is being able to target the friends of those users who have already liked your page. They’ll see your ad and the fact that a name they’re familiar with has already liked it is sure to peak their interest.Along with all of these tips, also make sure you’re utilizing your social media profiles and bookmarking sites. You’ll want to share the link to your page anywhere you can and bookmark it for others to find (ie. LinkedIn, Google Buzz, Delicious, Reddit). Make sure you’re using appropriate tags and a catchy description for SEO purposes. You never know where people will find out about your page, but the most important part is that they do find out about it.Also remember that these tips are not a one-time thing. You’ll have to keep up with promoting your Facebook page on a regular basis until you reach your desired goal. Good luck.